Door latch operating unit



F. J. MOCONNELL 2,879,096

DOOR LATCH OPERATING UNIT Margh 24, 1959 Filed Sept. 17, 1952 2 Sheets Sheet l IN VEN TOR. fFP/iN/r f /Yc ONIVELA March 1959 F. J. MQCONNELL DOOR LATCH OPERATING UNIT Filed Sept. 17, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

United States Patent American Hardware Corporation,- New Britain, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application September 17, 1952 Serial No. 319,031

3 Claims. (Cl. 292--169) This invention relates to a door latch operating unit and more particularly to the novel construction of a door latch operating unit of the cylindrical type.

The present invention has 'as' one of its objects the provision of a Cylindrical door latch operating unit that is extremely inexpensive to manufacture since novel construction eliminates the necessity of several parts heretofore commonly used in similar devices thereby permitting a substantial reduction in the amount of material required for the unit and the cost of assembly thereof.

This invention further provides novel means for supporting and guiding the retractor in said unit which eliminate the necessity of providing a separate retractor guide of complex construction such as commonly used in cylindrical doorlocks heretofore produced.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a retractor for a cylindrical door latch operating unit which is guided in a novel manner, is unique in "construction and inexpensive to produce thereby contributing substantially to the low cost of manufacture of the unit.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a cylindrical door latch operating unit which is supplied as a preassembled sealed unit which contains novel means for preventing disengagement of said retractor from its guide means. r

A still further object of this invention is the provision of a casing for a cylindrical door latch operating mechanism in which the cover plate therefor also functions as a clamping plate for securing'the unit in position in a door.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will be more clearly understood from the following descrip tion and the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view, partially in central horizontal section, illustrating the construction of my improved door latch operating unit. I

Fig. 2 is a front view thereof, partially in central v'ertical section, further illustrating the construction of the unit.

Fig. 3 is a sectional end view of the unit taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1 with some parts being shown in elevation.

Fig. 4 is a similar view, with some of the parts omitted, taken on line 44 of Fig. 1 and illustrating the construction of the supporting means for the inner spindle.

Fig. 5 is a sectional end view further illustrating the construction of said supporting means and taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 1. r

Fig. 6 is a sectional end view of the inner spindle "taken on line 66 of Fig. 2, illustrating the construction of the knob retainer.

Fig. 7 is a front view, in section on line 77 of Fig. 3, illustrating the construction of the retractor guide employed in my improved door latch operating unit.

Fig. 8 is an isometric view of the casing forming a part of the unit.

Fig. 9 is a similar view of the cover plate therefor;

Fig. 10 is an isometric view of the retraetor guide plate. Y

Patented Mar. 24, 1959 Fig. 11 is a similar view of the retractor.

Fig. 12 is an isometric view of the spring retaining washer used in saidunit.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 5 denotes the stile of a door having holes 6 and 7 bored therein for the reception of the latch operating unitand the latch unit respectively.

My improved door latch operating unit comprises a cylindrical casing 8 which houses and supports the latch operating mechanism and is provided at one end with a wall 9 having an opening 10 therethrough, and at its opposite open end with prongs 11 which project longitudinally from the casing. A cover plate 12 is secured to the open end of the casing 8 by the pron-gs 11 which project through similarly disposed notches 13 in said cover plate and are peened over to thereby firmly secure the plate in position. The said cover plate has an opening 14 therethrough which is co-axial with the opening 10 in the bottom wall 9 of the casing 8.

A guide pin 15 is secured to the cylindrical wall of the casing 8 and projects radially thereinto to provide a guide for the retractor 16 employed in the unit. Said retractor comprises a flat plate 17, having a centrally disposed hole 18 therein which receives the guide pin 15, and latch bolt retracting means in the form of spaced fingers 1919 which extend perpendicularly from said plate and are connected at their outer ends by a strap 19-a to prevent relative movement of the fingers. Said fingers are each secured to the plate 17 by foot portions 20-20 having perpendicular extensions which project through slots in the plate and are peened over against the underside of the plate to thereby securely fasten the fingers 1919 thereto. The outer ends of the fingers 19-19 are bent inwardly, as at 21, and are provided with extensions 21-a for a purpose to be hereinafter described. Said plate 17 carries oppositely disposed perpendicularly ICC ' extending ears 22-22 which are slotted to accommodate other components which are insertable into the unit to provide it with various locking functions such as illustrated in my co-pending application Serial No. 312,290, filed September 30, 1952, and now abandoned. I

A guide plate 23 is provided in the casing 8 to guid the fingers 1919 and thereby support the outer end of the r'etractor 16. The opposite side edges of said guide plate are provided with lugs 24-24 which are received in slots 25-25 and 26-26 in the wall 9 and the cover plate 12, respectively, to thereby secure the guide plate in position within the casing. The said plate has an opening 27 therethrough bounded by guide portions 27-a which receive and slidably support the said retractor fingers. One side of said plate adjacent the opening 27 is cut away, as at 28', to simplify the assembly of the unit. The opposite sides of said plate contain notches 29--29 which extend into the plate for a purpose to be hereinafter described.

It will be noted that the casing 8 has a notch 30 in the cylindrical wall thereof through which the retractor fingers 19-49 project to a position wherein they will engage the retractor bar 31 extending from a latch unit 32 which is positioned in the hole 7 in the edge of the door and is secured to the casing 8 by oppositely disposed tabs 33-33 which engage the opposite edges of the slot 30 in a mannot commonly known to those skilled in the art.

In order to cause retraction of the retractor 16 to withdraw the latch bolt 32-a of said latch unit 32, I have provided novel manually operated means in the latch operating unit. Said means, as fully described in my co-pending application, Serial No. 312,291, filed September 30, 1952, and now Patent No. 2,759,750, issued August 21, 1956, include elongated tubular bushing members 34-34 which are rotatably contained in the openings 10 and 14 in the casing 8 and cover plate 12,

respectively. The said bushings 34-34 are provided with flanges 35 and 35-a which prevent axial movement of the bushings outwardly of the casing. It will be noted from Figs. 1 and 3 that the notches 29-29 in said guide plate 23 are provided to accommodate the flanges 35-a on the bushings 34. Each of said bushings contains a plurality of. equally spaced slots 36 which extend thereinto for a portion of its length and receive similarly disposed lugs 37 on a washer 38 which surrounds the bushing and abuts the outer surface of the member in which the bushing is mounted 'as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The lugs 37 project through the slots 36 and into the bore of the bushing wherein they are engaged by the end of a tubular spindle 39, which is telescopically received in said bore and is secured therein, with its inner end abutting the prongs 37, by being soldered or welded to the bushing 34. It will be noted that the bearing construction above described for supporting the rotatable spindles 39-39 eliminates the necessity of providing sleeves on the casing 8 and cover plate 12, as commonly provided in locks heretofore produced, thereby effecting a considerable saving of material which substantially reduces the cost of manufacture of the unit.

Each of said bushings 34-34 has rollback portions 40-40 thereon which project inwardly from the bushing in front of the retractor plate 17 to thereby permit retraction of the retractor when either of the bushings is rotated by rotation of said spindle.

The retractor plate 17 is urged into contact with the rollbacks 40-40 by means of a spring 41 which surrounds the guide pin 15 and has one end supported The cover plate 12 has a decorative rose permanently secured thereto which surrounds the knob shank 46 to against the wall of the casing and its other end supported in a spring retainer 42 which rests against the plate 17. The said spring retainer 42 is U-shaped and straddles the guide pin 15 and portions of the peripheral edge of the retainer are bent upwardly to provide a retaining wall therearound which prevents lateral movement of the spring relatively to the washer.

During assembly of the unit, and after the spring 41 and retractor 16 have been properly positioned on the guide pin 15, the retractor is depressed against said spring beyond its normal retracted position to bring the ends of the retractor fingers behind the plane normally occupied by the guide plate 23, when in position in the casing, in order to permit insertion of said guide plate into the casing 8 without interference from said retractor fingers. The spring retainer 42 is then inserted into the unit in its proper position and, after complete assembly of the unit, will, on rearward movement of the retractor by either of the rollbacks, abut the shoulder 15-a on the guide pin 15 and limit movement of the retractor so that the fingers 19-19 will not be completely withdrawn through the opening 27 in the guide plate 23.

The door latch operating unit is provided with an inner knob 43 and an outer knob 44 each having a shank portion, 45 and 46 respectively, which telescopically receives its respective spindle 39. The inner knob is non-rotatably secured to the inner spindle by a projection 47 which extends inwardly from the shank 45 thereof into a slot 48 extending longitudinally of the spindle and is retained thereon by means of a knob re tainer 49 which is contained within the spindle. Said retainer is formed of spring wire and has leg portions 50-50 which are urged apart by the inherent resiliency of the wire against the edges of slots 51-51 in said spindle which thereby cams the extension 52 on said retainer through a slot 53 in the spindle into a similar slot in the shank 45 of the knob as shown in Fig. 6.

The outer knob 44 is non'rotatably secured to the outer spindle 39 in a manner similar to the inner knob and is permanently retained thereon by means of an car 54 which is bent inwardly from the shank 46 of said knob into a hole in the spindle 39.

conceal the construction of, the bearing member which supports the outer spindle 39 and enhances the appearance of the unit.

A clamping plate 56 is provided on the inner side of the lock and said plate carries a detachable rose 57 which performs a function similar to that of the outer rose 55.

It will be understood from the above description and the accompanying drawings that my door latch operating mechanism is supplied as a pro-assembled unit and that to install it in a door, having the required holes 6 and 7 bored therein, requires only the removal of the inner knob 43, which is accomplished by depression of the knob retainer 49, the inner rose 57 and the clamping plate 56.

The,latch unit is first inserted into the hole 7 in the edge of the door and secured in position therein by screws which pass through the plate 59. The door latch operating unit is then inserted into the hole 6 with the ends of the retractor fingers 19-19 in posititon to receive the retractor bar 31 of the latch unit as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. The said operating unit is moved through the hole until the cover plate 12 abuts the outer surface of the door. The inner clamping plate 56 is then placed in position against the inner surface of the door and is secured to the casing by screws 60-60 which, when tightened, securely clamp the unit in position. The inner rose 57 and knob 43 are then assembled to the unit to complete the installation. I

It will be understood that the retractor bar 31 of the latch unit 32 will lie substantially intermediate the inner and outer surfaces of any door regardless of its thickness. This is not, however, true of the retractor fingers 19-19 since the cover plate 12 is permanently secured to the casing 8 and, when the unit is applied to doors of a greater thickness than that illustrated in the drawings, the said retractor may be oil-center relatively to the latch unit. It is for this reason that I have provided the extensions 21-a on the retractor fingers 19-19 as said extensions permit considerable offset relationship between the bar 31 and the fingers 19-19 without etfecting the operation thereof and thereby render my improved unit applicable to doors of different thicknesses without the necessity of more expensive adjustable clamping plates as heretofore provided on locks previously produced.

I claim:

'1. In a door latch operating unit, a cylindrical casing having end walls and an opening in its cylindrical wall bordered by opposed free edge portions of said wall, a retractor contained within said casing and including a rear portion and a front portion extending forwardly from said rear portion in alignment with said opening, means in said casing slidably supporting the rear portion of said retractor, and a separate guide plate extending across said casing inwardly of and spaced from said free edge portions; said guide plate having a guide opening slidably receiving and guiding said front portion of the retractor relatively to the opening in the casing.

2. In a door latch operating unit, a cylindrical casing having end walls and an opening in its cylindrical wall extending intoone of said end walls, said cylindrical wall having opposed free edge portions bordering the opening and adapted to receive tabs extending from a latch unit to permit attachment of said latch unit to said casing; a retractor contained within said casing and including a rear portion and a front portion extending forwardly from said rear portion in alignment with said opening, means in said casing slidably supporting the rear portion of said retractor, and a separate guide plate secured in said casing and extending thereacross inwardly of and spaced from said free edge portions, said guide plate having a guide opening therein receiving and slidably supporting the said front portion of the retractor 5 in said casing and relatively to the opening in its cylindrical wall.

3. In a door latch operating unit, a cylindrical casing having an end wall and an open end, said casing having a longitudinally disposed opening in its cylindrical wall extending into a portion of said end wall and bordered by opposed free edges of said cylindrical wall adapted to receive tabs extending from a latch unit to permit attachment of said latch unit to said casing; a retractor contained within said casing and including a rear portion and a front portion having latch bolt retracting fingers extending forwardly through the opening in said cylindrical wall, said front portion being spaced from the said free edge portions to provide a space therebetween for said tabs; means in said casing slidably supporting the rear portion of said retractor, a guide plate extending across said casing inwardly of and spaced from said free edge portions and having lugs extending therefrom through openings in said end wall, a cover plate secured to the open end of said casing, lugs on the opposite end of said guide plate extending through slots in the cover plate, said guide plate having a guide opening therethrough slidably supporting and guiding the front portion of the retractor relatively to the opening in the casing.

References Cited in the file of this patent 

